An estimated one in five children in the United States suffers from a mental health disorder, yet less than one quarter of these children receive treatment, according to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. A shortage and maldistribution of pediatric mental health professionals in many parts of the country contribute significantly to the lack of mental health services for children and families. NYU Langone Health is addressing this gap with an innovative telepsychiatry program.

NYU Langone’s Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry first launched the telepsychiatry clinical program in 2010, in partnership with the New York State Office of Mental Health. The program currently serves several New York state facilities—including Rockland Children’s Psychiatric Center and the Elmira Psychiatric Center. NYU Langone child psychiatrists provide diagnostic assessments, medication management visits, and consultations to inpatient psychiatric units and school-based programs in 5 rural counties located up to 300 miles from New York City, while offering vital educational opportunities for child and adolescent psychiatry fellows and medical students who rotate through the program.

To date, more than 1,700 telepsychiatry visits have been logged in underserved communities. “Several of the counties we serve don’t have a single practicing child psychiatrist,” notes Shabana Khan MD, assistant professor of child and adolescent psychiatry and director of Child and Adolescent Telepsychiatry. “The need is acute.”

During sessions, clinicians use vertical dual monitors with the camera placed in the middle, allowing them to simultaneously view medical records and documents on one screen, while maintaining eye contact and interacting with the patient on the other. On the patient side, a mental health clinician is in the room with the child and family. “High definition pan-tilt-zoom cameras allow our psychiatrists to assess fine motor skills, subtleties of affect, symptoms such as tremors, and track movement around the room,” Dr. Khan explains.

In collaboration with Paul A. Testa, MD, assistant professor of emergency medicine and chief medical information officer, Dr. Khan is working to develop a Virtual Health Clinical Workgroup to promote telemedicine education, best practices, and high-quality care across NYU Langone.

Extending Telepsychiatry Services to Urban Areas

In partnership with the Family Health Centers at NYU Langone, the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry launched telepsychiatry in two Brooklyn schools last year, with plans to expand in 2019. Dr. Khan and Ruth S. Gerson, MD, assistant professor of child and adolescent psychiatry and director of Bellevue Hospital Center’s Children’s Comprehensive Psychiatric Emergency Program, are working to implement a program in which child and adolescent psychiatry faculty would provide telepsychiatry consultation to medical emergency departments in New York City that lack access to such resources.

Driving Policy Improvements and Research in Telepsychiatry

The department is partnering with national professional organizations, including the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, the American Telemedicine Association, and the American Psychiatric Association to address legal and regulatory challenges and inform policy related to telemedicine, including telepsychiatry, on the regional, state, and national level. The department has also incorporated clinical research into the telepsychiatry program, recognizing that it is essential to advancing the field.